‘Hong Kong, Shanghai property at risky level’

Bloomberg

Asian property prices have reached risky levels, especially in Sydney, Hong Kong and Shanghai, according to S&P Global Ratings.
“Asset prices, especially property prices, today are as stretched as they were before the Asian crisis,” Elena Okorochenko, head of Asia-Pacific ratings said at a conference in Singapore on Wednesday. Combined with increased household debt, prices in Sydney, Hong Kong and Shanghai appear stretched. “It’s a risk worth monitoring,” she said.
Home prices in Sydney have surged 75 percent in the past five years, ranking it as the world’s second most-expensive housing market behind Hong Kong, where prices climbed 21 percent in the year.
In Shanghai, home prices jumped as much as 33 percent last year, according to China’s statistics bureau.